Failure To Get 2nd Appraisals Drove Up Cost Of Buying Land

Road-work woes in Seminole

The Lack Of Second Appraisals Hurt The County's Negotiators, But Steps To Correct The Problem Were Not Taken For Six Years.

April 6, 1997|By Mary Brooks and Robert Perez of The Sentinel Staff

Seminole County paid too much for property in its $400 million road-building program because of flaws in its appraisal methods.

Second appraisals, quality checks or appraisal reviews should have been routine, but they were not.

''You probably could count on both hands the number of times they've gotten a second appraisal before it came to us,'' said Deputy County Attorney Lonnie Groot, who handled many property settlements.

Appraisals done by county consultants often varied greatly from appraisals done for property owners, leading to long and expensive legal fights.

Despite knowing that quality appraisals often make the difference in negotiations, the county waited nearly six years into its aggressive roads program before taking steps to avoid pitfalls.

Meanwhile, the lack of a comprehensive policy on appraisals often hurt the county's ability to negotiate land prices.

A case in point involved a 30-acre parcel near Tuskawilla Road and Red Bug Lake Road known as the Chubb property.

The county made two offers for the property before a first appraisal was even done. Only after both of those offers were rejected did the county make a $1.2 million offer based on an appraisal.

Two subsequent county appraisals showed the property was only worth half that much. Nevertheless, the county was locked into its last offer and ultimately paid $1.3 million for the property.

A second appraisal should have been done on the parcel before the first offer was ever made, Groot said.

That and other mistakes prompted the County Attorney's Office to recently begin requiring second appraisals on parcels valued at more than $500,000.

County consultant and former public works director Larry Sellers agreed the county paid too much for some parcels.

''But in the aggregate . . . this process was as good or better than any other process here in the state,'' he said.

Other problems stem from the cost and quality of appraisals.

Typically, the county hires appraisers who do the job at the lowest cost. However, property owners typically seek the best appraisals because the county must pay for them.

State condemnation laws require the county to compensate property owners for land taken for public uses and to pay the owners' legal fees and other costs, including appraisals.

''Property owners' attorneys have typically instructed their appraisers to leave no stone unturned in making their appraisal analysis and give very little, if any, thought to the costs,'' Groot wrote in a 1995 memo to commissioners.

That's why the county recently abandoned the bare-bones appraisal for more detailed estimates, County Engineer Jerry McCollum said.

''We may not save any money on what we pay for the property, but maybe we can save some on attorney fees,'' he said.

Looking back, Sellers said he regrets not having both the county and property owners' appraisals reviewed early on, particularly on more expensive parcels.

''Would it have saved millions? Probably not, but it may have saved some,'' he said.